Bath overpower Leicester in top-of-the-table tie

Tom Dunn scored for Bath on his club record breaking 184th match

Gallagher Premiership

Bath (19) 43

Tries: Spencer, Obano, Roux, Dunn, Stuart, Cokanasiga, Butt Cons: Russell 4

Leicester (15) 15

Tries: Woodward, Radwan Cons: Pollard Pens: Pollard

Leaders Bath won a ferocious top-of-the-table encounter with Leicester Tigers, scoring seven tries in a 43-15 victory to lay down a major marker in the penultimate weekend of the Premiership.

Defeat, which saw the Tigers held to zero points in the second half, means Leicester have to wait until the final league match in two weeks to confirm a home semi-final in the play-offs.

Bath edged a ding-dong first half 19-15 after tries from Ben Spencer, Beno Obano and Quinn Roux with Leicester replying through Joseph Woodward and Adam Radwan.

But Bath accelerated out of reach in a dominant second 40 minutes with tries from Tom Dunn and Will Stuart before a showpiece intercepted effort from Joe Cokanasiga and Will Butt's last-minute score sealing a statement victory.

Leicester stay second, five points clear of Gloucester in fifth, and face bottom-of-the-table Newcastle at home in their final match on 31 May.

Bath, now 15 points clear at the top, travel to Saracens on the same day.

With two of the most competitive packs in the league facing each other, the match began with all the tension of a Premiership final, despite being three weeks from the Twickenham showpiece.

Spencer opened the scoring for Bath on four minutes, throwing a dummy to create a gap from a line-out and running into the corner before Handre Pollard's penalty put Leicester on the board.

Ollie Chessum's early yellow card for head contact on Will Muir then seemed to hand Bath the initiative, but the Tigers' defence was superb as Julian Montoya expertly held them up over the line.

Leicester knew just one point from the match would seal second spot in the table and it was them who came out of the period with 14 men better, as Jack van Poortvliet picked out Woodward in space with a cross-field kick to give Tigers an 8-5 lead.

Hill thought he had pulled one back for Bath straight away but it was scratched off for offside, although Obano then powered over as the score swung back to the home side.

Leicester - who confirmed Geoff Parling as successor to head coach Michael Cheika earlier this week - forced Bath to sustain wave after wave of pressure, made worse by Dunn's yellow card for head contact on Hanro Liebenberg.

Their defence was eventually breached when Freddie Steward's long pass found Radwan, who dived into the corner for his ninth try in nine Tigers matches.

Joe Cokanasiga ran from his own 22 to score after a Bath intercepted pass

Radwan was almost immediately in again but was denied by Hill's excellent covering tackle and it was Bath who ended the half on the up, as Roux ran in under the posts.

After the disappointment of his earlier yellow, Dunn was able to savour the celebration on his club-record 184th appearance as he scored Bath's fourth try to a standing ovation from the home fans as the hosts turned the screw in the second half.

Time and again Bath's replacements have proved a major point of difference this season and, as the changes came thick and fast around the hour mark, Leicester were penned back deep by their own line.

After one potential Bath try was ruled out for a knock-on, Stuart scored Bath's fifth from close range to all but seal the victory.

Cokanasiga added a moment of magic in the closing stages, sprinting clear after Max Ojomoh intercepted with Leicester five metres from their own line, and Butt took the score past 40 in the final minute.

'A heavyweight boxing fight' - Van Graan

Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan told BBC Radio Bristol:

"An 80-minute performance, we said this was going to be a heavyweight boxing fight, two of the best teams in the Premiership going at each other and I thought we had a good 40 [minutes].

"[We] left one or two chances out there, but I love the hunger. We kept on punching and I thought the last 20 minutes we were really good.

"That last try at the end showed what we're about – tough to beat, it's never over until it's over. I'm glad for everybody at the Rec.

"I thought we dominated the gain-line and we didn't have it all the way, a four-point game at half-time - four tries in the second half, really happy about it."

Leicester Tigers head coach Michael Cheika told BBC Radio Leicester:

"I thought we worked really hard in defence. They did score a few tries at the end but there was an intercept they won through the line-out, we drop a ball, they ran the length.

"I thought we were quite physical, we just didn't have the extra edge in attack.

"We played a lot of the second half in our own half, through our own fault and the good play of Bath.

"Early on with a few opportunities we scored a few good tries, I thought at half-time we were right in that contest but we had some opportunities that we didn't nail and I think if you're playing against a top team, you've got to make sure you nail as many as you can and keep the pressure on them.

"We weren't able to do that and paid the price in the end."

Bath: Donoghue; Cokanasiga, Redpath, Butt, Muir; Russell, Spencer (c); Obano, Dunn, Du Toit; Roux, Ewels, Hill, Underhill, Barbeary

Replacements: Annett, Van Wyk, Stuart, Molony, Pepper, Carr-Smith, Ojomoh, Green

Sin bin: Dunn (28 mins)

Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya (c), Heyes; Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell

Replacements: Clare, Cronin, Hurd, Rogerson, Ilione, Youngs, Shillcock, Kelly

Sin bin: Chessum (10 mins)

Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe